Runner
by Ren Hikari Akair
Summary: A story about gamers :P
1. Chapter 1 (Executing)

-Welcome, New User.

A teenage boy stood there in a marketplace-like area filled with a crowd of people, new ones appearing every few minutes or so. He had two large spikes that come off as a bang from his blonde hair. A rubber band was tied around the back of it, making it similar to a ponytail. However, because of its shortness, it was pushed forward and had a small puff at the mouth of the band. His eyes were teal and full of curiosity. A long, slightly torn maroon scarf hung from his neck and stretched to the ground. He wore a red sleeveless shirt and a faded black vest. Black cargo jeans were secured with a belt that was tilted forward with a few pouches of various sizes. He had black fingerless gloves and scuffed black boots that reached just beyond his ankles.

"Welcome! Learn the basics here!" the blonde heard from somewhere in the crowd. He rolled his eyes and started walking in the other direction.

"Tutorials are for noobs," he said under his breath as he left the marketplace-like area. While passing several unique-looking characters and a few that looked exactly the same, he eventually made it to an inn. He reached to open the front door, but stopped as he felt someone looking at him. He turned to his left slowly and saw just a regular crowd of people. The blonde sighed and proceeded to opening the door, but upon opening, he bumped into another person, knocking them to the floor.

"Hey! Sorry!" He said, looking at the figure's shape. She wore a tie-die T-shirt, a brown vest, ripped blue jeans, and had green, purple, and blue in her hair, green being its primary color. She looked up at the boy.

"What the hell, man?!" she exclaimed, getting up off the floor and brushing herself off.

"It was an accident!"

"Whatever," she said as she pushed him aside and continued through the door. The boy watched her as she walked away. He finally proceeded into the inn and stepped over to the counter. The inn had wooden walls, wooden tables, and a wooden counter with several doors behind the counter in two separate hallways. The innkeeper looked up at the boy.

"Welcome! Care to stay for the night?" she asked, not making eye contact, but maintaining a smile.

"Yeah, I guess."

"Okay; for how long?"

"Just for the night," he said reaching into his pocket. After pulling out his money, he had realized that he moved over a little to the left of the counter, but the girl had been looking in the same position.

"Okay, please sign your name below," she asked, pointing at a paper on the right of the counter. He walked over to the counter and wrote the name 'Kiriko' into the next box that hadn't been filled in.

"There." He said, looking back up at her. As she heard his voice, she turned to face him holding a keycard, that read 'F43'.

"Okay, your room is F43; enjoy your stay." Kiriko had just stood there realizing he hadn't paid her anything.

"How much will it cost?" Kiriko asked her, and in response, her face lit up.

"Oh! That'd be four dollars," she asked, holding out her hand. Kiriko counted out four dollars, handed it to her, and took his keycard. He walked into the hallway on the right side and looked at the various titles on the doors.

"F39, F41, F43." He stopped and stood in front of the door and slid the keycard into the designated area on the door. It made a very low beep noise and opened. The room was a bit small but had everything that was needed; it had two lamps, one near the bed and one on the table near the door. The bed was near the window with a small dresser on each side. The floor had been made of wood along with the walls. Kiriko closed his door and laid his keycard on the dresser near his bed. He walked over to the window. "I guess this is a good spot to come back to." Kiriko walked over to his bed and lied down staring at the ceiling as he slowly began to close his eyes.

The boy closed the window where Kiriko was sleeping. He began to get drowsy and walked over to his bed then went to sleep. The next day, the boy woke up at the sound of his alarm clock.

"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!" He pushed a button on the top of the clock, making it snooze. He sighed, looking at the clock; it read '6:45 am'. The boy quickly rushed into the bathroom and returned minutes later to his room. It was kind of small, similar to the size of Kiriko's, but it had a table with his laptop, a lamp, and an old sandwich on it to the left. To the right, there was a small armoire and a mirror above it. On the top of the armoire were different figurines and sketches. To the back of the room was his bed; it was a mess because he had forgotten to fix it. The walls were a simple beige color with several different red lines that traveled like waves at the top and bottom of the wallpaper. He walked over to the mirror, hearing his black dress shoes knock on the hardwood floor, and tilted his head up to look at himself in the mirror. The boy had straight black hair and light blue eyes. He wore a white shirt with a blue collar, he reached into the armoire and pulled out a red tie and began tying it around his neck, under his collar. He adjusted his blue pants and pulled the bottom of his shirt over while grabbing his watch. He began putting it on as he walked from his room into the kitchen. He quickly grabbed a box of pocky and stepped outside.

"Bye!" He said briefly before closing the door. He opened the box while walking towards the city. He looked around at the neighborhood he had lived in; it'd been his second year in federal japan. The homes near his looked similar to the shape and design of his own, they all had triangular shaped roofs, and had a simple build, a square for the majority, a small rectangle either on the left or right, and another in the back part. The exterior of all the homes had wooden fences, yet the boy's home didn't. He glanced ahead looking for something or someone and his a smile had taken his face as he saw people who had looked familiar to him.

"Hey, Guys!" He said waving to them.

"Yo, Zack!" A boy with dark red hair said to him, he was wearing the exact same thing as Zack, the boy.

"Hey Zack." a girl with long brown hair that was put into a French braid said. She wore a blue collared shirt, a red tie, a blue mini skirt, long socks and black dress shoes.

"What took you so long? You're like... late." The boy said.

"I overslept." Zack said looking down.

"Hah! Yeah right... We all know you were up all night gaming, that's why you never replied to us last night." The girl said.

"Well, actually yeah I was... I just recently started a new MMO that got released last night."

"What's it called?" She asked.

"I think it was like "Runner" or something?"

"What's it like?"

"Um, it's detailed?"

"Guys enough dallying, we've gotta get to second district in like the next five minutes, The only way we could probably do that is if we take the train." The boy turns to face Zack holding out his hand wanting something. Zack reached into his pocket and counted out a few Zen then gave it to his friends.

"Is that enough, Dez?" Zack asked.

"Looks like it, C'mon Rayne." Dez said as he walked off in the direction of the city.

"Okay!" She said following him, with Zack not very far behind.

The three rode the train as if it had no stops whatsoever. Zack was sitting directly across from Rayne, and Dez was standing up holding on to a pole.

"Hey Zack..." Rayne said looking up to her friend.

"Yeah?"

"What's Runner like? You, like, never got into detail when you spoke of it."

"It's fable timed, from the same creators of CODEX+." He said getting Dez's attention.

"CODEX+? Isn't that the game that had multiple accounts of its users falling into comas?" Dez said.

"What?"

"Yeah." Rayne said joining in. The train began to slow down and eventually came to a stop.

"C'mon we can't be late to Professor Brakosconkiviwich's class!" Rayne said, standing in front of the door, waiting for it to open. The other two moved from their posts as well and waited for the doors to open. Just as they opened, Zack and Rayne darted off towards this massive building in width. Dez just walked normally behind the two.

"DING, DONG!" The bell rung as Zack reached the doorway of his classroom; he stopped and put a hand on the doorway only to be pushed over by Rayne. The professor walked over to the two with his white eyebrows raised.

"I-I'm not late right?" Zack asked anxiously under Rayne. The professor simply smiled and turned away.

"To your seats." He said as his white lab coat swayed to and fro. Two black dress shoes and long socks eventually stepped in front of Zack. He avoided not looking up because he figured it was a girl.

"What are you still doing on him?" The girl said reaching out for Rayne's hand. Rayne took it and was helped up, as Zack slowly got up.

"Oh sorry, Yuna. I didn't realize he meant that much to you." Rayne said teasing. Yuna blushed and quickly went over to her seat. Zack had finally gotten up on to his feet, just to be pushed aside by Dez.

"You're in the way." Dez said, not even making eye contact with Zack. As Zack tried to regain his stance, he was pushed aside yet again by a muscular boy with shaggy brown hair. Zack turned around and looked behind himself, making sure nobody else was coming.

"To your seat, Zach." The professor said, once more, this time mistakenly pronouncing his name wrong. Zack quickly moved over to his seat; he sat near a window in the second row behind the boy with shaggy hair and in front of Rayne. Zack hadn't recognized anyone who looked like the boy in front of him from last year. He leaned forward and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey, what's your name?" Zack asked.

"Riddle-E." The boy said.

"Ridley? Where are you from?"

"I are from New Jershey," the boy said. Zack leaned back into his seat and thought to himself as the professor approached the front desk to begin teaching.

"DING, DONG!" The bell rang once again waking up the sleeping Zack. He looked around for his friend but they had already left. Zack quickly ran through the hallway to his next class.

"DING, DONG!" The bell rang. Zack entered the classroom a few seconds after it had rung.

"My, you look tired Zack." A woman said to him. She had short pink hair and wore a teal shirt with a white lab coat. She also wore black pants and black shoes.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Blossom. I didn't get much sleep last night."

"You were playing games again?" She asked, Zack looked up at her with a sly smile.

"Yeah... This new game was released last night. I just had to!" Zack exclaimed. She giggled and said,

"Okay, Okay, go to your seat so we can begin. We don't want to ruin your first day of your sophomore year, right?" she said turning away and going to her desk. Zack walked over towards his seat not aware of the boy in the back of the class examining him closely.

"Zack... eh?" He said under his breath as Mrs. Blossom began her lesson.

"DING, DONG!" The final bell rang, and Zack could hear the cheering of his classmates.

"Don't forget your homework," Mrs. Blossom said as the students rushed of the classroom. Zack grabbed the textbook he had received during his lesson and headed for the door. He felt as if someone had been watching him so he looked towards the back of the classroom and saw nothing but bookshelves. "Hey, you okay?" Mrs. Blossom asked him.

"Huh? Yeah, just taking sudden interests in bookshelves, Haha." Zack said humorously, making her laugh. He then exited the school through the front doors. He saw Dez and Rayne waiting for him.

"What took you so long?" Dez asked.

"Me? Um, nothing." Zack said, "Come on, let's go." The trio walked over to the train station and waited for the train, talking about what had happened during the day. The train finally came and they boarded it; it seemed like another endless ride until it eventually stopped and they exited at the station. The three waved to each other and headed in different directions to go home. Zack reached his front door and opened it. "Mom, I'm back!" He said closing the door and locking it then rushing into his room. He placed his textbook down beside his laptop and quickly booted it up. He typed in the web address ' '. A sign up screen appeared, with a simple question: What is your username? Zack typed "Kiriko" into the box and checked the box to the terms and agreements. The screen was shifted into a blank one with a small vertical box on the right side that showed the users and a big box on the left that said "Kiriko has entered the chat." Under the big box was a smaller box the extended horizontally to the user box. It read "Type something here". As he waited he opened a file on his desktop titled " ". As it loaded he went back to the 'chatty' and opened a new tab and searched CODEX+. The results read, "Coma Pandemic! Reporter Lisa Lee on the scene here with breaking news about...; CODEX+ The Reality Hacker! Remember when you were younger and had this thing for gaming?..."

"BEEP!" Zack switched back over to the chatty to see a new user had joined under the name of "Rayne".

Rayne: Who's this Kiriko?  
Kiriko: It's me, Zack.  
Rayne: Why name it Kiriko?  
Kiriko: Why not?  
Rayne: Because I like Zack better.  
Kiriko: Brb  
Dez has entered the chat.  
Rayne: Dez!  
Dez: What is it?  
Rayne: What? All I said was Hi.  
Dez: No you said, "Dez!"  
Rayne: Fine, Hi Dez. :/  
Dez: What is it?  
Kiriko: Back.  
Dez: Who are you?  
Rayne: Zack  
Kiriko: Zack  
Dez: WTH is Kiriko?  
Kiriko: My Runner character. Guys download it.  
Rayne: Okay.  
Dez: Fine, I'll do it just to beat you in it.  
Kiriko: If you insist.  
Rayne has left the chat.  
Dez has left the chat.

Zack closed the window titled 'chatty' and switched back to Runner.


	2. Chapter 2 (Tutorials)

-Welcome Back, Kiriko

The boy had been sleeping throughout the day and had finally awoken. He sprung to life immediately and looked at the table near the door to see a tray with a covered plate.

"Maybe it's breakfast?" he thought aloud, he didn't need it because he hadn't been injured or harmed whatsoever, so he ignored its existence and advanced to the door. Upon opening it someone else had pulled on it, trying to open it as well. The door swung open and revealed it was the keeper.

"I was just coming to ask how your breakfast was." She said moving out of the doorway. I stepped out into the hallway and looked at her.

"The stay was enough, I'm actually kinda in a hurry so… Chao!" Kiriko said running towards the entrance. "Thanks though!" He said waving and proceeding through the door. "Now if I were Dez and Rayne where would I be?" Kiriko said looking down thinking. Then the memories of yesterday came into his head as he rushed towards the crowded marketplace-like area.

"This is a fresh new idea I tell ya! It be called the 'Yo Momma Blade.'" I heard a merchant say somewhere.

"What kind of a dumb lack of inspirational name is that?" Kiriko mumbled under his breath. He paused for a moment then shrugged and continued his search through the crowd. Eventually he saw a girl with long hair and a single purple streak going through it. She wore a harness around her chest and a long black jacket that extended above her knees over it. It was closed and held together with golden silver buttons and also had several pockets. On her arms she wore two long black arm sleeves that covered the sleeves to the jacket and, she had worn the end of them as fingerless gloves. On her legs, she had black jeans with a few holsters for knives and various sized pockets; and finally, on her feet, she wore black cleats.

"H-Hey there." Kiriko said greeting her.

"Oh um, Hi there!" She said as a smile appeared on her face.

"Your avi is beautiful." He said trying to hold in a laugh.

"Oh really? Thanks! Yours isn't half bad." She said looking down a bit. Kiriko took a step closer and tilted her head up so that their eyes could meet.

"What's your name?" He said staring into her purple eyes.

"Rayne." Upon saying that Kiriko backed away quickly. Soon after, he looked down as he scratched the back of his head. The girl looked down and sighed.

"That was a bit awkward… huh Rayne?" Kiriko said as if he had known her from somewhere. She looked up at him and stared at his figure.

"What is your name?"

"It's me!" Kiriko said tossing his hands into the air and taking a pose. "Kiriko!" Rayne immediately blushed a dark red and backed away.

"Yeah, I guess it was kinda awkward." Rayne said.

"Oh yeah, when I asked for your name, I didn't mean your real one."

"I know that, but Rayne's my username." She said smiling.

"What? Are you serious?"

"Yeah, I've actually been playing this ever since I've been home. I went over a few tutorials too, see?" A small window suddenly popped up that read, 'Request to be friends with User: Rayne' there were two answers either accept or decline. Kiriko accepted it and a smaller window appeared saying, 'Rayne is online.'

"Who takes tutorials anyways? Those are for n00bs." Kiriko said turning away and folding his arms.

"It's better than being beat up by a girl." Rayne said turning away folding her arms as well. Kiriko faced her and unfolded his arms.

"What'd ya mean, beat up by a girl?" Kiriko retorted. Rayne backed away slowly stretching her arms then drew two knives.

"I'll show you! Battle, commence!" Rayne said, slashing towards Kiriko as he leaned backwards, evading the attack. The surrounding crowd began to swarm around the two, giving them a great deal of space.

"No Rayne, what are you doing?" Kiriko said, backing away quickly.

"FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!" The crowd chanted.

"What? Scared of a beautiful girl?" She said, walking closer juggling her knives.

"Fine then, but don't get mad at me when it's over." Kiriko said, raising his arm into the air as if he was reached for something.

"How can I be mad when I'm the one that's gonna be on top?" Rayne said as a sly smile grew on Kiriko's face.

"N-Not like that!" She sprung forward and slashed at him again. Kiriko lowered his arm and made the knife collide with a sword that had just appeared out of nowhere. Rayne smiled and flipped off him. She then tossed a knife at him. As it slit his shoulder, Kiriko leaned over in the direction of the cut and as he looked back up he was hit directly in the face by Rayne's boot. He fell backwards onto the ground, and everyone cheered.

"Enough of this, I didn't want you to come here so we could fight. I want to make a gaming group with you and Dez." Rayne put away her knives and stepped slowly over to him.

"Alright, show's over guys." She said, waving her hand in the air and putting out a hand to help Kiriko up. He ignores it and gets up by himself.

"Let's go find Dez already," he said, shoving through the crowd angrily.

"H-Hey! Wait Up!" Rayne shouted, as she followed him through the path that he had made through the crowd. When the two had made it back to the inn's entrance, Kiriko stopped before her. "What's the matter?" she asked, trying to catch her breath, "You mad, bro? You mad 'cause you got beat up by a girl?"  
"No... it's not about that... I didn't want you guys to just come on here to fight me," he said with a laugh.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Where do you think Dez might be?" she said, silencing his laughter.

"Uh, honestly I don't know." Kiriko said, hanging his head.

"Well then... I guess that just leaves us..." she said, looking down. He looked up at her quizzically.

"Hey, Rayne... can I ask you something?" he said, just then her face lit up and became excited.

"Yes!"

"Where do you think Dez might be?" -and with that she turned away and stormed off. "Was it something I said...?" he thought aloud.

"I don't know! Why don't you go look for your boyfriend yourself!" she retorted without turning around. Kiriko stood there wondering what had just happened. Then, a new thought suddenly crossed his mind.

"Wait! Rayne!" he shouted, trying to chase after her, but eventually lost sight of her and stopped at a large metal gate.

Zack minimized Runner and reached for his cellphone. He quickly cycled through his contacts and called Rayne. The phone rang for a bit before a voice was heard.

"Hello?"

"Rayne listen-"

"Hah! J-K, I'm not here right now. Leave a message after the beep." Zack sighed and hung up. He was one of those people that don't leave a voice message unless it's a dire situation. Resting his back into his rolling chair, he glided it across the floor then got another idea and bolted back to his computer. He opened up Runner once more.

"Are you like dead or something?" a girl's voice said to him.

"Hm? Sorry, I was A.F.K." He said, turning around to face her. He noticed that it was the same girl he bumped into at the inn.

"Oh... it's you." she said, rolling her teal eyes.

"Oh... uh, Hey. I'm sorry about yesterday. It was kind of an-"

"Enough... I hate it when people apologize over something so little. Geez dude, it's a game. Lighten up a bit," she said smiling and playfully punching his arm. He looked at her curiously. "So, why are you just randomly standing here?"

"Let's skip the backstory, Wanna make a gaming group?"

"Huh? Yeah sure, B.T.W. the name's Chaos."

"Very... fitting." Kiriko replied, "Name's Kiriko." he said putting out his hand for a handshake.

"Dude, you're so gay!" she laughed then shook his hand. "Who shakes hands anymore?"

"Well it was the only thing I could think of I mean-"

"So... you're Kiriko?" an adolescent male's voice said behind the closed gates. The two turned to face him. He wore a black shirt, black combat pants, black boots and a long, red trench coat covering most of it. He brushed aside a bit of his crimson hair.

"Yeah, what of it?" Kiriko asked, and the man simply shrugged and began walking away.

"This gate here... this is what divides us; it's what makes me better than you. Once you pass this gate, there'll be another gate... and I'll be on the other side once again, waiting for you to reach my level," he said, tossing his hand in the air. "Later." After the man had disappeared from sight, the two looked back at each other as the wind slowly picked up.

"So um... Let's go look for my friend."

"Your girl-friend?" Chaos said teasingly.

"What? Who, Rayne?" Kiriko sputtered; "No! Just a friend." he finally answered. "Want me to prove it to you or something?"

"...and how exactly would you do that?" she said leaning up closer to him.

"I'll show you," he said, taking her by the wrist and dragging her in a random direction he hoped his friend may be in. She rolled her eyes and sighed trying to keep up with him. Within minutes of searching and asking where she might have been Chaos snatched her wrist away.

"Well this sucks for a first date." she said smiling making Kiriko look at her questionably, "J.K. Dude, Clam your tats."

"Sorry, I just don't know where she went."

"Dude it's whatever, she'll be on here tomorrow, right?" she asked the blonde. He nodded his head in agreement and the two headed off towards the gate once more. "Since you don't know how to show a girl a good time, I'm going to show you how tomorrow, be here around 7-ish, Kay?" Chaos said before running away waving "bye" to Kiriko.

"Bye...?" he said watching her run off into the distance. He walked back into the inn as he did the night before and bought another room, then rested in the bed.

Zack closed out the window then closed the lid to his laptop. 'Tomorrow's friday' he thought to himself, 'Maybe I can take Rayne and Dez to the festival tomorrow night, Yeah!' With that thought in mind he went over to his bed to slumber.


End file.
